Archive for February, 2010

It’s been snowing beautifully all day in NYC. Big fat flakes floating through the sky. (Of course once it hits the ground it’s a different story.) Now that it’s evening and the best of it is over though, I chance across this in the Times:

They timed it perfectly. The Plaza started offering hot chocolate in a colorful Thermos just as the first snowflakes started falling. For $19, you can buy 15 ounces of steaming hot chocolate flavored with cinnamon, orange and port, and the container is yours to keep. Ten percent of the price goes to the Central Park Conservancy. They have it ready to go, so you need only to go to the bartender in the Oak Bar and request it.

Throughout the whole financial crisis, I’ve felt mad, guilty and a little helpless about doing business with the Big Banks. It’s just oh so convenient! (Which is not unlike so many other consumer choices we all make.)

I’ve long held doubts about the truth of Verizon’s claims, I think they’ve massaged the data-points, but this piece of advertising takes the claims and puts them to brilliant use. I can’t believe this kind of thing is legal, it’s so good. On the other hand, who the heck would want to pull it?

To see something truly great, as I did last evening with the current production of A Little Night Music at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway, is to be reminded of the possibilities of great work. Many pieces go into its creation and each of these relies on the integrity of the individual maker. This is the nature of inspiration: the whole package integrated to a level of positive surprise. For greatness is always surprising; it cannot be taken for granted.

What products, events, creations in your world are the inspirational surprise that lift your ideas of greatness? What work of your own could use that extra nudge toward the Extraordinary?

LOVE this view of Earth from the International Space Station. According to the NY TImes “The new window is reminiscent of dramatic round windows in classical buildings, like the duomo in Florence or Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. It also resembles the cupola-like cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo’s spaceship in “Star Wars,” and Captain Nemo’s giant porthole in the study of the submarine Nautilus in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Some in the branding world think that Vitamin Water as a BFF to the Olympics is a great addition to the brand voice. I don’t. I think it’s co-opting consumer language in an attempt to be “cool”…and the net effect sounds like marketers trying to be hip and not quite getting there. Irritating brand voice for sure.

The stats are surprising, 1 in every 4 TV shows today are considered reality shows. The number one program on NBC, the network that brought us such hits as Seinfeld and the Law & Order franchise, is now The Biggest Loser. Ouch. From a business standpoint, the reason for this paradoxical shift is that while producing a scripted drama can run in the millions, a reality show can be made for hundreds of thousands. (The Leno/Conan fiasco all started when management calculated the savings at running Leno 5 nights a week but don’t get me started.) Add to that, the fact that people are willing to embarrass themselves publicly for the opportunity to be famous, and you have a recipe for toxic culture soup.

Jersey Shore is the latest train wreck to take up tasty space on the Huffington Post. Since when did Snooki reading her first book become news? According to Dr. Drew Pinsky, the man behind the mind-wincing Celebrity Rehab, “people are drawn to dysfunctional behavior”. That may be true, but we are also attracted to great storytelling.

When I was a kid, Steve Austin and Wonder Woman were my cultural role models. Today, Miley Cyrus admits to shirking the responsibility. So, it begs the question, what are the long term implications for our national psyche to absorb just plain bad behavior?